iPod Mini Resurrection and Nano Guidance
byI’ve had my share of grief with the pink mini I purchased 4 years ago and just like the ‘area man’ in this Onion Radio News report, I didn’t want to give up on my iPod when its battery life fizzled to a mere 30 seconds.
Coming back from Osoyoos yesterday, I plugged my iPod (2nd gen) mini into the Energizer Energi to Go portable charger (as seen in this video) and held it there for about 2 hours of the journey. I found this to be a great solution to my battery woes, although inevitably the Energi to Go will need two new AA batteries so it’s definitely not a long-term answer.
I’ve had the lightning bolt symbol, the disk mode screen, and even the “I’m b0rked” message with the frowning iPod saying I better go to Apple Support. Through it all, it has never been more than a few simple reboots couldn’t fix, which is pretty fortunate I would imagine.
On a less positive note, our black 2nd gen Nano – as seen on my segment of The Lab with Leo – has gone missing along with the Belkin Tune Talk microphone.
We’re unsure if it’s still on a United Airlines flight from Kansas City or if it was scooped from our bag at the beach. Regardless, we’re out of luck now when it comes to portable podcast recording equipment and I’m feeling like the hooped iPod in the photo above right about now since I also have two band podcast interviews coming up this month. I was wondering what other podcasters do for cheap, quick, and easy product for mobile recording – if you have any tools or tips to share please let me know in the comments.
6 Comments — Comments Are Closed
It’s obviously not as portable, but can you just get a mic for your Macbook and use that for a little while?
Could we use iRecord on your iPhone, or is that only for short snippets?
Off-topic: As reported in ars technica today (http://tinyurl.com/6o374z) “Apple has sent out invites to a Special Event taking place on September 9”. It’s widely expected Apple will refresh the entire iPod product line for the pending holiday season.
If you’re unable to find the Nano (sigh!) I would recommend you hold off on any iPod purchases until the end of the month.
@ Duane – we still have the home studio with mixer, mics, Ubercaster etc. We just need something small and simple to take “on the road”.
@ Robert – you’re right, but I’m not even sure a new Belkin mic would fit a new iPod, whatever they’re going to look like now. Seems like we have to rethink our entire process at this point 🙁
There are 2 solutions I can offer. There is a place in North Van on 2nd and Lonsday called irepair.ca. I have not used this place. I have done some do it yourself repairs (new battery, new hard drive) from DMDepot.ca. They also did a great repair on my daughters ipod when she cracked the screen.
Nano 4 is too light thin for me, I will easily lose or break this. Anyone agree ?